Dentists recognise dental flossing as a necessary and effective part of teeth cleaning and plaque removing. Flossing is indeed the only effective method for cleaning between the teeth to remove plaque build-up, which is the primary cause of gingivitis, periodontal and tooth decay. For good results, flossing should be performed daily. Beside the related applications of the applicant, today there is not any practical, well-designed device that gives consumers a high level of satisfaction with regard to usage, hygiene, etc. Finger flossing continues to be the most common method used by people even though it is primitive and does not provide good results especially for the rear teeth.
A dental floss applicator is known from EP 0 661 026 B1. According to EP 0 661 026 B1 a self-dispensing dental floss applicator is known revealing a generally U-shaped housing, having a space for a spool of floss at its one end and two hollow prongs extending parallel to each other at its other end, the floss being spanned between the free ends of the prongs and passed from the spool through a locking mechanism, a guiding section, the hollow prongs back to the guiding section and the locking mechanism wherein the locking mechanism consists of a casing, rotatably mounting a lever with double eccentric acting on two grip pads and a grip pad spring provided between said grip pads and said casing. The self-dispensing dental floss applicator known from the prior art needs the power of the fingers of the user to move the floss and is therefore less comfortable and moves the floss very slowly. Furthermore the used floss has to be cut by the user and therefore the applicator known from the prior art is less hygienic in use.
Document WO 2004/084760 A2 discloses a dental floss applicator, wherein dental floss is guided from a first spool, located in a housing, over two prongs back to the housing, where the used floss is collected on a second spool. The tension that is applied to the floss can be adjusted be the user by engaging a stop pin that stops floss from the supply spool being pulled towards the prongs and then manually turning the second spool.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,681 A discloses a dental floss applicator, wherein dental floss is guided from a first spool, located in a housing, over two prongs back to the housing, where the used floss is collected on a second spool. The tension that is applied to the floss is maintained at a constant value by means of a tapered spool and a rack and pinion locking mechanism.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,133 A discloses a dental floss applicator, wherein dental floss is guided from a first spool, located in a housing, over two prongs back to the housing, where the used floss is threaded through a locking mechanism and then further out of the housing through an exhaust channel. A fixed tension is applied to the floss by a spring-loaded locking mechanism.